A city empty of children in a cold, dystopian shell
(Janice Turner, The Times, 15th April 2023)
After the war, years of hiding,
and bombs destroying homes,
mothers and children return to subsiding
cities of bare bones.
Soldiers came, conscienceless;
now they’re gone,
immune to emptiness, hunger and despair, while
homeless survivors watch the afterbirth
of contrails fade in the sky.
Kim M. Russell, 23rd February 2026
It’s the last Monday in February and Lisa is keeping bar at the dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille, when we write 44-word poems which must include a word provided by the host. Today the word is ‘hunger’.
Lisa says: “I was hungry to find a word that would whet your appetite. One that could apply to many scenarios. One that many other poets have tackled in myriad ways. It afflicts any living creature. For non-humans, from fungi to giraffes, hunger is mostly a biological necessity that keeps the being alive. For humans it can be such an affliction, especially in territories under siege by war (e.g. Ukraine and Palestine,) or in famine (e.g. Sudan, Mali, and Haiti.) But for us humans we have hungers beyond biological that affect us on a continuum from being mildly irritating to a consuming obsession.”
Lisa has shared poems about hunger by Richard Murphy, Adrienne Su and Kahlil Gibran. As Lisa reminds us, “poets know all about hunger in finding just the right word or conveying the best distillation.”
I took an old poem I wrote for NaPoWriMo in 2023 and reduced it to 44 hungry words.
writing in north norfolk 
Empty . . . but for the horror, a dystopian nightmare we’re seeing unfold every day . . . and “the afterbirth / of contrails fade in the sky” is as devastating a metaphor as I’ve ever seen written.
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I’m so glad you commented on that, Dora. It seems as if wars and conflicts are never ending.
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Kim, the image you chose to accompany your poem complements the haunting construction of your poem. The words feel like a skeleton, abandoned in a rubble-filled alley 😦
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Thank you, Lisa. I had to read it again and I see what you mean about a skeleton abandoned in a rubble-filled alley.
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You are very welcome, Kim. Yours is a powerful poem.
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what a combination of words and picture you had me in tears.
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Cheers Rog. Sorry for the tears.
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Never be sorry for moving somebody shows its good quality poetry
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A very apt poem for the times, Kim. Despite the sombre content, that is a striking image to end on, almost something hopeful in it. And what a haunting image you found!
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This is a haunting piece Kim – you capture that period immediately following conflict – not the victory or the defeat, but the hollow stillness of what remains – great piece of writing ♥️
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The bleakness is felt in words and photo choice. Destruction beyond comprehension. There are many forms of hunger that linger.
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